Kirby-Jones, Henry lead Golden Eagles to two crucial OVC wins over Jacksonville State

May 09, 2009

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Needing wins to stay alive in the hunt
for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, the Tennessee Tech
baseball team came through in a big way, beating OVC foe
Jacksonville State 5-1 and 5-3 in a double header on Saturday.

Sophomore A.J. Kirby-Jones, junior Lee Henry and senior Ryan
Dennick all had big games for the Golden Eagles (24-20-1, 9-11-1),
as the team moved back into the sixth and final spot in the OVC
tournament as the conference season winds down. Kirby-Jones had a
huge day from the plate, going 2-for-4 in game one,with two home
runs, and four RBIs. He also struck out nine batters injust four
innings pitched, allowing just two hits in the save.

“You look at a performance like that, and that’s just
what A.J. does,”head coach Matt Bragga said. “He is
such a great baseball player in somany different ways.”

Dennick got the win for Tech, after pitching five scoreless
innings, striking out three batters and scattering six hits.

“When you have a starting pitcher give you that kind of
performance,five shutout innings, it really motivates you to go out
there andfinish strong for him,” Kirby-Jones said. “I
was in the zone a littlebit, and it felt really good to help my
teammates out like that.”

The Golden Eagles took the lead off Kirby-Jones first home run, a
two run shot in the second inning that put Tech up 2-0.

A leadoff double from Chad Hayes in the seventh inning turned into
arun when Chad Oberacker hit an RBI single to give the Golden
Eagles a3-0 lead. The very next batter was Kirby-Jones, who hit his
secondhomer of the game, a bomb that cleared a 50-foot light pole
in leftfield, putting Tech up 5-0.

“I was really focused coming into the game, and I had a
couple of goodswings,” Kirby-Jones said. “Anything I
can do to help the team win,that’s what I want to do. We
understand how important these games are.”

Kirby-Jones’ two home runs were his 15th and 16th of the
season,putting him alone in third place on Tech’s all-time
single-season homeruns list. Only Mark Mayberry’s 17 and
Jeremy Bonczynski’s 20 homeruns, both hit in Tech’s
1997 OVC championship season, are ahead of himon that list.

The Gamecocks (28-19, 10-9) got one run back in the top of the
eighthafter a walk and a hit batter set up an RBI single, making
the score5-1, but JSU would not come any closer.

I addition to Kirby-Jones, Hayes and Alex Henry also went 2-for-4
from the plate, and each scored a run in the first game.

In game two, the Golden Eagles found themselves down 3-1 heading
intothe bottom of the sixth of the seven-inning contest.
Kirby-Jones ledoff the inning with a walk, and freshman Ben Burgess
followed that upwith a double, putting runners on second and third
for sophomoreCasanova Donaldson, who hit an RBI single to pull Tech
within one. EvanWebb walked in the next at-bat, to load the bases
for Tate McMillan,who would knock in a run on a grounder to the
third baseman to tie thegame at 3. Donaldson would score on a wild
pitch before Hayes groundedout, and Alex Henry capped the four-run
inning with an RBI single togive Tech a 5-3 lead.

“When we had the bases loaded with no outs, I was thinking
that I’d bepitching in a 3-2 or maybe a 3-3 game,” said
Golden Eagle startingpitcher Lee Henry. “When we got our
fourth run I sort of switched overto a closer mentality. Then when
we went up 5-3, I just startedsmiling.”

And he had a lot to smile about, as he forced two groundouts
beforeending the game with his seventh strikeout in the seventh
inning,capping off his fifth complete-game in five starts, and
improving hisrecord to 7-2 on the season.

“I don’t like being taken out of games,” Lee
Henry said. “Fortunately,god blessed me with a rubber band
arm, so I’m able to pitch the wholegame. I love pitching the
seven innings games.”

Burgess went 2-for-3 in that game with a double and an RBI, and
Alex Henry, Donaldson and McMillan also added one RBI each.

Alex Henry and Burgess each finished the day going 3-for-7 from
theplate, and Donaldson finished 2-for-6. Chad Oberacker hit his
fourthtriple of the season and scored two runs on the day.

“Our guys really believed in each other today, and as a
result of thatall the little things came together, the clutch hits,
the greatdefensive plays,” Bragga said.

The two wins move Tech into sixth place in the OVC standings, a
halfgame ahead of Eastern Kentucky, which split a pair of
conference gamesagainst Southeast Missouri on the day. The Golden
Eagles own thetie-breaker over EKU as Tech swept a three-game
series against theColonels in Cookeville earlier this season.

Austin Peay is the other team on Tech’s heels. The
Gov’s had a pair ofgames against OVC-leading Eastern Illinois
rained out Saturday, butwere only percentage-points behind Tech
entering the day. The Gov’s andPanthers will attempt to play
a double-header Sunday.

The series finale between Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State
will beSunday at 1 p.m., with a special senior-day presentation
preceding thegame. It will be Tech’s final conference game of
the season, as everyother OVC team has three more conference games
scheduled.